Arroyo to spend New Year's Eve with Baguio's 'urban poor'

MANILA, Philippines — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will spend New Year's Eve with selected urban poor residents of Baguio City at the Mansion House, Malacañang announced Tuesday. A Palace statement said Arroyo will have a get-together with Baguio's urban poor at 11 a.m. at the manicured lawn of the presidential residence for a gift-giving event. "The 3,200 beneficiaries were earlier chosen by the city's social welfare office, according to Baguio City Tourism Officer Benny Alhambra," the Palace said. Some 23 residents per village will receive their gifts directly from President Arroyo, he added. Residents from the city's 128 villages will also have the chance to get inside the presidential Mansion, which marked its 100th anniversary. Most of the time, the Mansion is off-limits to the public, the Palace statement said. Before the gift-giving affair, Mrs. Arroyo will be interviewed at the gazebo of the Mansion's guesthouse, the Palace said. Meanwhile, Mrs. Arroyo ordered concerned officials to craft an additional marker in the local dialect to properly mark the centennial of the Mansion House. She issued the directive during the unveiling of the twin centennial markers of Mansion House that predates Baguio City by a year. Arroyo first unveiled the Filipino version of the marker, which was installed on the left post of the main gate, before crossing over to the right post to unveil the marker in English text. "I was saying that rather than Tagalog, the marker should have been in Ilocano or Ibaloi," she told city officials as she looked up at the 7 x 35-inch marker with the Filipino text that was provided by the National Historical Institute (NHI) in collaboration with the Heritage Program of the Office of the President (OP). The Malacañang Museum will hold an "open house" of the Mansion on Sept. 1, 2009, the day that Baguio City turns 100 as a chartered city. Before boarding the van that took her to the Loakan Airport on her way to San Fernando city in La Union for the Rizal Day celebration, Arroyo went around greeting the tourists and residents, including old women from the Cordillera tribes, shaking their hands and wishing them a Happy New Year. - GMANews.TV